Hi, my name is Rafael Maarek and I am a junior currently pursuing a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering here at the University of Southern California. I joined the Image Understanding Lab in Fall 2015 to follow my interests in how the brain processes information from sensory stimuli, particularly in the form of visual cognition. How we perceive our world is shaped greatly by our minds' approach to recognizing and analyzing images. Recognition connects humans to objects or other humans, therefore making studying it critical to better understanding the basic processes of learning and mental development. I find the distinction between what we observe and what we perceive fascinating, in large part because it models the structure that allows humans to associate images with ideas while exploring the limitations of the human psyche. Research offers me an opportunity to enhance my personal knowledge while contributing to the growing understanding of the intricacies of visual perception. By studying how we turn scenes into individual geons and features, I hope to help map our impression of the world around us.